Thursday, February 15, 2007

I wish to compliment each of you for your intensity level, dedication, and commitment to high level technology implementation during the LoTi Mentor Certification Institute at Woodford County Middle School. You folks were just absolutely awesome!

On our third day of certification, we focused on Certification Tasks #6 (EBAM and Apollo 13), and #8 (Next Steps Action Plan). To view sample EBAM units, please access the LoTi Lounge website and specifically the LoTi Resources section.

At the beginning of today's session, we reviewed the impact of LoTi Project School's on student achievement. A summary of data relating to student achievement in the Floresville ISD (Floresville, TX) appears below.

During the afternoon portion of our program, I modeled a professional development intervention called Engaging Questions and EBAM as well as described how you can use both your LMC CD and Manual to create dynamic professional development interventions for teachers. I coined these interventions, LoTi Skill Sets.

Thank you again for becoming an active participant in the LoTi Mentor Certification Program. As a reminder, your LMC submissions are due no later than Apil 2nd 2007. In the meantime, if there is any aspect of the program that you would like clarified, please let me know.

Today, we focused on several areas impacting instruction, assessment, and technology use in the classroom such as how to conduct a professional development intervention (remember the High-Octane Culminating Task PD) as well as how to conduct a makeover of a lesson plan by first assessing its critical attibutes (e.g., Validity/Reliability, Authenticity, Challenge, Critical Content, Differentiation, Technology Use).

Besides the LoTi Sniff test, I also introduced another concept to help us think about LoTi and the eight stages comprising the LoTi Framework. I used a lava lamp as a metaphor to represent the different levels of LoTi in the classroom. What causes one lesson to be at a higher level than another relates directly to the amount of HEAT generated.

Keep in mind that the H.E.A.T. acronym represents four of the dimensions from the larger scoring guide that we used today to evaluate a lesson plan. The reasons for addressing only four dimensions are threefold: (1) KISS principle, (2) reduce the amount of staff anxiety-already too many competing priorities going on in the classroom, and (3) hit the critical elements first.

Since part of the day was spent "LoTizing" video clips and related learning activities, I wanted to provide you with some additional suggestions when conducting classroom walkthroughs or reviewing student products.

1.Having students apply what they have learned to a new authentic situation involves more than just depositing the information into a webpage, blog, wiki, or multimedia presentation; it requires students applying the pertinent concepts or skills to a situation that directly impacts the learner, his/her immediate surroundings, and/or the larger community. If this is not the case, then you most likely have either a LoTi 2 or 3 learning experience.

2. The easiest way to discriminate between LoTi 2 and 3 is the presence of (1) Higher Order Thinking Skills (Bloom's Taxonomy) or (2) one or more Complex Thinking Strategies. If a learning experience is teacher-directed and engages students exclusively at the Knowledge/Comprehension levels, then it is almost assuredly a LoTi 2 lesson. Conversely, if a learning experience is teacher-directed and engages students at the Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and/or Evaluation level or enables students to exercise one or more complex thinking strategies (i.e., Problem-solving, Creative Problem-solving, Decision-making, Investigation, Experimental Inquiry, Reasoning, Personal Reflection), then it is almost assuredly a LoTi 3 lesson.

3. Reaching consensus about the "learner-centeredness" of a classroom experience is sometimes difficult. The easiest way to achieve some type of consensus is to first divide the learning experience into three components: Content, Process, and Product. If you detect that a minimum of two out of three of these components is "learner-centered" then we call the entire experience a learner-centered activity. Conversely, if you detect that a minimum of two out of three of the components is "teacher-centered" then we call the entire experience a teacher-centered activity.

3. Whenever possible, use the LoTi "Sniff" Test to help approximate the LoTi of any lesson plan, web-project, or instructional unit.

Is technology being used in the classroom? - Yes/No Is technology being used by students as part of the learning experience? - Yes/No Is there evidence of higher order thinking by students tied to the content? - Yes/No Are students applying their learning to solve a real world problem or situation or resolve an issue? - Yes/NoIs the learning experience student-centered? Yes/NoIs there two-way collaboration with experts outside the classroom? - Yes/No Do students have unlimited access to technology during the school day? - Yes/No

4. A truly differentiated classroom has LoTi 0-4 occurring on a daily basis.

5. The appropriate or target LoTi should always be commensurate with the content standards being addresssed and at the desired level of student cognition.

6. As a reference, I have included the citations from "Issues with Technology Use" from yesterday's program.

C. Technology can enhance both what and how children learn when used in conjunction with: (1) active engagement, (2) participation in groups, (3) frequent interaction and feedback, and (4) connections to real-world contexts.

Roschelle, J.M. Pea, R.D., Hoadley, C.M., Gordin, D.N. and Means, B.M. (2000). Changing how and what children learn in school with computer-based technologies. The Future of Children, 10:2, 76-101